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United Earth (Contact!)
The United Earth, or UE, is the central civilian government that administers Earth and its colonies. During the Human-Ch'rix war, humans were still divided among various nation-states, and the UE was established shortly after the defeat of the Ch'rix to rebuild human civilization. Political divisions The United Earth is a federal union of several hundred States. The original states were the successors of the human nation-states that resisted the Ch'rix invasion. Early in the world state's history, a number of new states were organized on territory separated from the claims of the existing states. The states do not have the right to secede from the union. The two other areas considered integral parts of the country are the Capitol District, the federal district where the capital, New Washington, is located; and Off-World Colonies, the various territories and stations established throughout the Solar System after the end of the Ch'rix invasion, as well as the Alpha Centauri colonies. Those born in the major territories possess U.E. citizenship. Earth citizens residing in the territories have many of the same rights and responsibilities as citizens residing in the states; however, may not vote for president, and have only nonvoting representation in the Global Congress. States North America *Alaska-Yukon *Greenland *Quebec *New England *New York *Appalachia *Dixie *Caribbean *Illinois *Hudson *Great Plains *Rockies *Cascadia *California *Aztlan *Texas *Mexico *Aztec *Maya *Central Asia *Shanghai *Beijing *Delhi *Tamil *Borneo *Honshu *Vietnam *Iran *Dubai *Mecca *Siberia *Kazakhstan *Israel *Greater Korea Europe *Iceland *Scandinavia *Novgorod *Muscovy *Balticum *Belarus *Ukraine *Poland *Moravia *Prussia *Hanover *Benelux *North Britain *South Britain *Ireland *France *Bavaria *Occitania *North Iberia *South Iberia *Naples *Italy *Yugoslavia *Romania *Balkania *Turkey South America *Brazil *Argentina *Rio Amazonia *Venezuela *Colombia Colonies Almost immediately after the Ch'rix fleet had left the Solar system, humanity began developing off-Earth colonies of its own. The first were located on the Moon for Helium 3 extraction and shipbuilding; Mars and the Asteroid belt followed shortly after, but as the Earth Government found itself with massive population density problems, even with the elimination of borders, and the mass migration of peoples to underpopulated areas, the government began funding expeditions to nearby star systems for colonies. *Lunar Territories *Tharsis Colony *Commonwealth of the Gallian Moons *New Haven Colony, Alpha Centauri B. *Atlantis, Alpha Centauri A Government and politics The United Earth is the world's first Global Federation. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy. The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Global Constitution, which serves as the planet's supreme legal document. In the Global federalist system, citizens are usually subject to three levels of government, federal, state, and local. In almost all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote of citizens by district. Congress The Global Congress is a bicameral legislature of a Senate and a House of Representatives. It is an adversarial system by design, with both houses checking each other from legislative overreach. The number of Seats in the House of Representatives is decided based on population, while the Senate consists of 2 Seats per State. The Senate is presided over by the Vice President, while the House is presided over by a Speaker of the House. World Court The World Court is made up of 11 Associate Justices, and one Chief Justice. The Justices are tasked as the highest Appeals Court on Earth, and determines the constitutiality of laws and actions by the Congress and President (Though this is rarely required of the Justices thanks to constitutionality checks in the legislative supercomputers that actually write the bills that Congress votes on.) Visual Presidency The President of Earth, is both the Head of State, Head of Government, and Commander-in-Chief of the Earth's military, though he or she is usually only charged with upholding and administering the laws passed by Congress. | 5 | Pierce Jones | - bgcolor+73C2FB | align=center | 4 | 2052 | 2060 | Republican | Sabri-Hasem |} Parties and ideology When the United Earth was establish it had countless parties, none of which had time to form a coherent major party. As such the winner of the 2020 presidential election, non-partisan Nathan Alder, became the 1st U.E. president. For elective offices at most levels, state-administered primary elections choose the party nominees for subsequent general elections. By the election of 2036 several coherent parties had formed to challenge the Alder Coalition. List of Political Parties * Liberal-Democratic Party: Keynsian Democracy, Green, Liberalism * Technocratic Party: Democratic Technocracy * Republican Party: Right-Wing Populism, Conservative Liberalism *'Centre Party:' Populism, Third Way, Social-Liberalism * Conservative Party: Conservatism, Libertarianism * World-Labor Party: Social-Democracy, Farm-Labor Rights, Agrarianism * Communist Party: Democratic Communism, various factions. * Christian-Democratic Party: Christian Democracy, Conservative Liberalism. * Global Islamist Party: Moderate Islamism, Muslim Democracy. Military Under the Demiliterization act of 2025, compounded by the pre-constitutional orders of then-General Alder to destroy the vast majority of pre-War arms, the Earth has no standing Army. Only a comparatively small Navy used exclusively for patrolling the sea lanes. The only force kept in active duty is the Space Force, which is forbidden to carry live surface bombardment rounds during peace time. Navy The United Earth Navy (UEN) has recently completed the retirement of all pre-war vessels, and established a much leaner force for Sea Lane patrol and defense. All of these craft are fully submersible, the largest being the Churchill Class Carrier. Space Force The Earth military is the first in human history to include an established Space Force, currently made of of five retrofitted Ch'rix starships. These ships are all fitted for orbital bombardment and ship-to-ship weapon systems. While the United Earth Space Force (UESF) has largely been put into service for exploration and development missions, at least one vessel is required to remain to in Earth orbit at any given time for defensive purposes. The Space Force is also responsible for its own squadron of attack aircraft, though for the Earth, most airborne threats fall under the Navy's jurisdiction. Economy As of 2029 The United Earth economy had largely moved beyond resource scarcity, thanks to government run mining operations established throughout the solar system shortly after the end of the Ch'rix war. Due to the devestating nature of the War, however, most of the luxury goods and services enjoyed in the pre-war developed world have yet to return to pre-war production levels. As such, agricultural and artificially produced materials are the only resources that have any real value, while base resources (minerals and gasses) are so inexpensive that government run corporations like the Minerals Management Agency are the only way to continually extract them. The Alder Administration committed the better part of their domestic agenda to a series of public welfare and infrastructure programs to jumpstart the Earth economy, particularly in the areas of transportation, waste management, and food and water provisions. While this has ended starvation on a global scale, and solved the global water shortage, economic development is still not moving as fast as many would like. There are only a handful of large corporations, very few of which produce goods and services that the average citizen can afford. Presently information/communication products are one of the only pre-war items available for mass consumption, made extremely cheap thanks to reverse engineered Ch'rix technology; and the market is dominated by dozens of regional companies. Infrastructure Transportation Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of roads and the Trans Global Highway system. Mass transit accounts for 40% of Global work trips, and transport of goods by rail is quite extensive as well. The planet Earth itself is united by a network of high speed maglev rail-lines, which feed into local lower speed rail networks. The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and is considerably regulated, while most major airports are publicly owned. Energy The United Earth has successfully phased out the use of fossile fuels, leaving fusion, wind, tidal, hydro-electric, and solar energy sources to fulfill the planet's energy needs. Nuclear Fission reactors were outlawed shortly after Fusion Energy became possible on a large industrial scale. The Planet's energy needs are ballenced by a network of local nanogrids and the Global Electricity Grid, which is made up of miles of Superconducting electrical transfer lines, linking every power plant, and energy consumer together, limiting waste. Education Health The Earth employs a form of Universal Healthcare administered by the World Department of Health. Care is free for people suffering from chronic illness, and thanks to advancements in stem cell and genetic treatments reverse engineered from Ch'rix technology healthcare costs are kept low. Department of Health also pays for all prenatal planning treatments, resulting in a post war baby boom of children immune to disease and gifted with greater physical and metal strength. Culture The United Earth is a multicultural civilization, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. As for music, there is a fusion of many types-starting from Western Rock/pop and Latin music to the Folksongs of the Aborigines and traditional music preserved around the world. Category:Contact! Category:Space Nations